Top 3 tips to harness dark social data

Properly attributing visits, clicks and shares across the online and social spaces allows brands to tailor their content marketing to create content with which their audience will engage. This also represents the best potential communities to connect with and can help identify which devices the audience is commonly using to access content.

"It is time for this influential behavior to be brought to light so that brand marketers can possess a more accurate view of how their top webpages or pieces of content are delivering their traffic. Understanding the sharing methods, geographies and devices that drive the largest volume of click backs can only increase this free user acquisition," said Rebecca Watson, Vice President of Business Development, RadiumOne.

Dark social, or the sharing of digital content by consumers outside traditional social networks, is one area more brands need to access, advises Watson. By knowing how consumers are sharing content and which content pieces - images, video, ads, etc. - are getting the most shares, retailers can continue to create the best content for their shoppers.

Here are Watson's top three tips.

First, enable tools that will track both copy/paste sharing and click backs. Social sharing buttons are important, but don't rely simply on these options because many consumers aren't using them.

Second, allow for auto-inserts of the original URL. People are copy/pasting bits of text more and more and by allowing for the original URL to be inserted in those selections, there is a trail back to the brands' original content.

Finally, leverage analytics.

"[Retailers should] leverage a third-party social analytics tool that provides a 360-degree view of all types of your users' sharing and click back activity," said Watson.